Abstract
Objectives : Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) CCARM 3251 and S. aureusKCTC 1928 have been known to be resistant to many kinds of antibiotics. The extract of Glycyrrhizae Radix showed antibacterial activity against MRSA and antibiotics-resistant S. aureus. Methods : We examined the effects of the water-soluble extract and the methanol-soluble extract of Glycyrrhizae Radix on MRSA and antibiotic-resistant S. aureus. The methanolic extract was further fractionated with organic solvents such as hexane, chloroform, and ethyl acetate in that order. Results and Conclusions : The methanol-soluble extract of Glycyrrhizae Radix showed relatively high antibacterial activity against MRSA and antibiotic-resistant S. aureus. However, the water-soluble extract of Glycyrrhizae Radix showed no antibacterial activity against MRSA and antibiotic-resistant S. aureus. Among the fractions tested, the chloroform fraction showed the highest antibacterial activity against MRSA and antibiotic-resistant S. aureus. The methanol-soluble extract of Glycyrrhizae Radix minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) against MRSA and antibiotics-resistant S. aureus were $5{\;}mg/m{\ell}$ in both. The methanol-soluble extract of Glycyrrhizae Radix was separated using thin-layer chromatography and detected with UV -detector. Further study should be carried out to identify which effects cell growth inhibition of MRSA and antibiotics-resistant S. aureus.
